Many subscribers will be interested in the interim report of the of Commissioner for Fair Access in Scotland, Sir Peter Scott, on the impact of the COVID-19 on fair access to higher education.

The report considers both direct impact of public health measures in the country on fair access, and the indirect impact of actions taken by colleges and universities to mitigate these measures. Sir Peter’s headline message is that COVID-19 ‘has exposed, and exacerbated, existing inequalities of access to higher education’, but offers the hope that the measures taken provide greater justification for government strategies already in place, and highlights a ‘need to take even more effective, and urgent, action’.